The Hawaiian Gourmet

WARNING!!! This place has reopened under a new name. I think it was called Something Rose. There’s a big sign outside that says it has a hibachi. The hubby and I headed out for lunch today and hibachi sounded great. When we walked though the doors the 1960s décor should have clued me in to RUN back to the car but still we entered and were seated. There is no hibachi seating and in fack there is no menu. This is a buffet with six main food areas. 1: Raw… you’re supposed to load up a plate of raw pork, beef, shirmp and vegetables and take it to the singular hibachi grill for them to cook. However, no one explained this and it was a little confusing. 2: Salad and fruit. Not mixed salad just lettuce and some fruit that looked like it was poured out of a can. 3: Sushi. There were several platters of preprepared sushi on a bed of ice. It did look beautiful and at first I did intend on returning. 4: Typical Chinese food preprepared and baking under heat lamps. 5: American bar food such as cheese sticks and chicken tenders and four different soups 6: The dessert table had a few single layer cakes and some pudding. I love dessert and didn’t intice me at all. Within the buffet servers were areas where a dish was supposed to sit but there was no dish. They covered it with clear plastic bags and made the whole place look sketchy. The closer I got to the kitchen door which is adjacent to the buffet serving stations I could smell a quick stench of mildew. Of the food I was brave enough to sample. Fried rice… good. Beef and Brocolli… beef was like shoe leather. Sweet tea… came from an instant packet obviously. Egg roll… included hard pieces of pork… I spit it out.
Overall the ‘hot’ food was just luke warm and sometimes with cold spots. It made me worry about food poisoning which is why I didn’t go back for the sushi. Our meal cost about $ 22.
Disgusting. will never return no matter how many times they change the name.

Very Very disappointed, being born and raised in Hawaii my family & I were excited to try this place, unfortunately I can make EVERYTHING better in my own kitchen. The food Is mostly Asian NOT Hawaiian, and poorly executed at that. The kahlua pork (only Hawaiian thing there) was made with vinegar… we don’t make it w/​vinegar in Hawaii EVER, not to mention it tasted like it had been in the freezer for years before they prepared it, I don’t think they make anything fresh! The hamburger steak was tasteless along w/​the eggdrop soup. They had faux deviled eggs (the yolks were fully intact, all they did was boil the eggs, cut them in half & put mayo on top and sprinkle paprika on them… also NOT Hawaiian) The mac & cheese was dry, and their food is poorly labled, if u aren’t familiar with multi Asian cuisine you won’t know what you’re eating. The only thing Hawaiian about this place is the music, even the décor is tacky Party City Crap. All in all a horrible experience, I will NEVER spend money here again EVER!!! If you want AUTHENTIC HAWAIIAN CUISINE GIVE ME YOUR MONEY AND I’LL MAKE IT FOR YOU!!! I’d like to give this place a –10

Saw a review from another site that stated they didn’t have Hawaiian food, but had to disagree. They actually had Kalua Pork (labeld as pulled pork) that was spiced oh so nice, and Lau Lau’s. While the Lau Lau’s were a little heavy on the veggies inside, they still tasted decently. They have a decent buffet where the workers are checking on the food regularly with lots of choices at a way low price (two of us had sodas/​tea and a buffet for less than $ 15 before tip).
I agree with the other review I read: traditional Hawaiian food does not include egg rolls, General Tso’s chicken, mac and cheese (not mac salad), and there weren’t pineapples all over. While this is all true, the food still tastes good, is a good price, and the Hawaiian islands have mix of all sorts of cultures, so a mix of food makes sense. Also, it’s Fayetteville, NC; this makes it hard to get the right ingredients for real Hawaiian food. Regardless, I’ll definitely be back there.